1853 Mitchell Map of Russia in Asia and Tartary

Title

Description

An extremely attractive example of S. A. Mitchell Sr.'s 1853 map of Russia in Asia. Extends from the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea eastward as far as Siberia, Kamtschatka and Japan. Extends south to include Korea, Mongolia, and much of northern China. An inset map in the lower left quadrant details the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, or as it is generally known, the Caucuses. Surrounded by the green border common to Mitchell maps from the 1850s. Prepared by S. A. Mitchell for issued as plate no. 65 in the 1853 edition of his New Universal Atlas. Dated and copyrighted, 'Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1850, by Thomas Cowperthwait & Co., in the Clerks office of the District court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.'

Cartographer

Samuel Augustus Mitchell (March 20, 1792 - December 20, 1868) Senior began his map publishing career in the early 1830s. Having worked as a school teacher, Mitchell was frustrated with the low quality and inaccuracy of school texts of the period. His first maps were an attempt to rectify this problem. In the next 20 years Mitchell would become the most prominent American map publisher of the mid-19th century. Mitchell worked with prominent engravers J. H. Young, H. S. Tanner, and H. N. Burroughs before attaining the full copyright on his maps in 1847. In 1849 Mitchell teamed up with printer Cowperthwait & Company to produce the Mitchell's Universal Atlas and the Mitchell's General Atlas. In the late 1850s most of the Mitchell copyrights were bought by Desilver and Co. who continued to publish his maps, many with modified borders and color schemes, until Mitchell's son, Samuel Augustus Mitchell Junior, entered the picture. S.A. Mitchell Jr. purchased most of the copyrights back from Desilver and, from 1860 on, published his own New General Atlas. The younger Mitchell became as prominent as his father and published atlases well into the late 1880s when most of the copyrights were again sold and the Mitchell firm closed its doors for the final time.

Source

A New Universal Atlas Containing Maps of the various Empires, Kingdoms, States and Republics Of The World. (1853 issue)

Condition

Very good condition. Overall toning and minor offsetting. Blank on verso.

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